Blevins Elementary School students and staff have waited patiently for more than two decades to finally crack open the time capsule sealed on Sept. 9, 1999, a little less than one month after the school opened 25 years ago.
The capsule was stored in the school’s trophy case, and hundreds of students and staff members have pondered what’s inside it on their way to the library or cafeteria. Principal Hector Ramirez said the students’ excitement was palpable on Sept. 12, when the time capsule was opened.
Former teachers, principals and staff spoke at the assembly. Current students sat on the gymnasium floor and cheered as some of their former teachers, nurses, secretaries and others reintroduced themselves.
All three of the school’s current and former principals were there: Celestine Knox, who retired in 2003, Sharon Jackson, who retired in 2021, and Ramirez, who is in his fourth year as principal.
The children’s screams of “Open it! Open it!” reached near deafening levels when Ramirez lifted the lid to the time capsule and pulled out the first item: a copy of a St. Louis newspaper printed the day the capsule was sealed.
“Has anybody ever seen a newspaper before?” Ramirez asked the students. “The teachers wanted me to read this note (stored in the time capsule), ‘This newspaper will remind people in 2024 of what the world was like in 1999 and will encourage people to talk about how the world has changed in 25 years.’”
To further celebrate the anniversary, the Blevins parent-teacher organization held an event on Sept. 14 at the school with food trucks, yard games, a DJ, and the contents of the time capsule on display.
“Just seeing what was going on in 1999 and what we have nowadays is kind of surreal,” Ramirez said. “The learning that took place 25 years ago has not changed; kids were thriving back then like they’re thriving now.”
Past and present
Blevins welcomed students for their first day of class on Aug. 23, 1999. At the time, Knox said both Geggie and Eureka elementary schools were bursting with students, and the Rockwood School District officials decided it needed another elementary school in Eureka.
Even though she was the Eureka Elementary principal, she said district officials encouraged her to apply to be principal.
“I was first at Eureka Elementary, and I was pretty much content with being over there,” Knox said. “Even when they said, ‘Oh we’re going to be building a new school over here, and we’re looking for a new principal, is anybody interested?’ I didn’t apply. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
However, after speaking with her husband and fellow staff members and praying about it, Knox agreed to be Blevins’ first principal.
With leading a new school comes a lot of tiny decisions that need to be made, such as what should the school’s colors be? What about a mascot? What kind of furniture should be ordered?
“There were a lot of challenges because there are things you don’t even think about – you’ve got to mesh parents, students and staff from two different schools to come to one school,” Knox said. “You are trying to come together and make a family, generate some school pride and that kind of thing. We didn’t want it to be another Eureka, and it couldn’t be another Geggie.
“We wanted to be original, but we wanted to have some things that were important in both schools to be a part of this school.”
When Blevins was being built, Knox said the construction manager would call her with a question about the new school. She said she learned to come prepared to the work site.
“I’m over in Eureka trying to take care of Eureka business, and here comes the construction manager calling me, ‘Can you come over here?’” said Knox, who lives in north St. Louis County. “I kept my boots and my hard hat in the trunk of my car. I never knew when I needed to come over.”
All these years later, Knox said she still has the hard hat.
Jackson said she credits the amazing past and present Blevins staff for keeping the school functioning and successful. Jackson lives in Catawissa and is a substitute teacher in the Meramec Valley R-III School District.
“I have been fortunate, from the time I took over to the time I left, to have the best staff you could ever have,” she said. “That makes all the difference because our kids need and deserve the best teachers in their classrooms.”
What’s in the box?
According to the front page of the St. Louis newspaper, on the day the time capsule was sealed, the weather was overall sunny, with a high of 78 degrees and a low of 56.
Bill Bradley, a Crystal City High School alum and former professional basketball player, was vying to become the Democratic presidential nominee. He had returned to his old school stomping grounds while on the campaign trail. His presidential bid was unsuccessful.
Gov. Mel Carnahan along with his staff were campaigning against a controversial state abortion ban bill.
Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond was attempting to prevent the Interior Department from banning lead mining in the Mark Twain National Forest.
Airport officials believed Lambert Field (also called St. Louis Lambert International Airport) “could stand a good cleaning.”
Also in the box:
■ Floppy disc. “Boys and girls, you know how you have hundreds of games saved on your iPad and your tablets? We had to use these to save our games,” Ramirez said.
■ VHS tape.
■ Computer mouse with wire attached.
■ A cellphone, battery not included.
■ “All about me” student letters. Ramirez read from a note in the time capsule which said, “They thought the children of the future would enjoy seeing their pictures and reading about their life’s interests.”
■ A book about Cardinals baseball player Mark McGwire.
■ A Goosebumps book.
■ Stephen Collins Foster CD with songs such as “Old Folks at Home” and “Oh! Susanna.”
■ Dedication program from the day the building officially opened on Sept. 9, 1999.
■ A “Day in the Life” story by second graders.
■ Letters from fourth graders.
■ A yellow yo-yo with the school’s bobcat mascot.
■ Copies of student artwork.